Kesuvina Pathrode recipe | How to make easy patrode

Kesuvina Pathrode an authentic coastal Karnataka style recipe. Check out the Pathrode video and step-by-step tutorial. Here is a healthy vegan glutenfree and nut free delicious recipe. These are steamed colocasia leaf rolls.

Hello everyone, I am back with one more steamed recipe from coastal Karnataka.

Here I am giving a Mangalore-Malnad style rolled kesuvina pathrode recipe. This is a best tasty breakfast and snacks recipe. This is a good travel meal as well as stays fresh for two days.

Kesuvina pathrode is a lip-smacking dish to the taste buds. This is also called as pathrode oggarane.

This is a dish with many names and different methods of preparing them as well. Literally pathrode or patrode is means patra – leaf and vade or vado – dumplings.

Patrode, pathrode, patrodo, patra, patrodu, alu vadi, patra vadi are different names called locally across different regions of India.

Locally colocasia leaves or pathrode leaves are called as chevu in Tulu, kesuve in kannada, taro or arbi.

What is kesuvina pathrode recipe?

In simple words, it is colocasia leaves or kesuvina yele stuffed with spicy sweet tangy rice lentil masala batter and steamed until well cooked.

If you are looking for more Mangalorean- Udupi style recipes to try, then click below

I have a given a detailed recipe of pathrode in the video, please have a look before you prepare this dish. Subscribe here to receive more updates on new video recipes.

This method of preparing pathrode is passed on from my ancestors, my mother, mother-in-law.

Colocasia leaves – Health and culinary uses

Colocasia or elephant ears or taro plants are grown perennially in fertile lands with tuberous roots. They are good in antioxidants, few minerals, vitamins and other healthy benefits.

Many varieties of dishes are prepared using colocasia plants like sambar, chutney, dosa, cutlet with leaves, stem and tubers.

Colocasia leaves (kesuvina yele or kesuvina soppu) are considered to be irritant to throat, tongue or lips because of needle like raphides or calcium oxalate in the leaves.

There are numerous species of colocasia All varieties are not edible, only few are suitable for cooking. Care should be taken to select good ones.

However, if they are lightly itching, then adjust the tamarind paste, red chilies and jaggery powder to reduce the itchiness.

List of ingredients that goes into this recipe

LET’S GATHER THE INGREDIENTS FOR PATRA RECIPE

Good clean edible variety colocasia leaves are used in this recipe

Whole Indian spices used in pathrode recipe are coriander seeds or kothambari beja, Urad dal or split black gram or uddina bele, Chana dal or split Bengal gram or kadale bele, methi seeds or fenugreek seeds or menthya.

Red chilies to make the batter spicy.

Freshly grated coconut to give nice aroma and softness to Pathrode.

Dosa rice or raw rice is used in this recipe.

Jaggery, tamarind paste, salt is added as per the taste to reduce the itching of colocasia leaves.

After steaming the pathrode rolls are tempered using coconut oil, mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, red chillies, and curry leaves.

Coconut oil is an important part of preparing pathrode being it a frying the spices or seasoning the pathrode. This imparts an irresistible aroma to the dish.  

Selection of pathrode leaves

This is an important step in Pathrode recipe. All varieties of colocasia leaves are not edible, so its important to select proper plant. There are few ornamental gaint colocasia plants which are not edible.

Most household in coastal Karnataka and malnad regions grow edible colocasia plants in their backyard. So, it’s not difficult to source these to prepare dishes. However, in cities, it is always difficult to get edible colocasia leaves.

In Bangalore, they can be sourced from any near by Mangalore stores. These can be easily grown in small pots or grow bags. The arbi rhizome is sowed and you can find good growing colocasia plants in your terrace garden within a month.

The best time to use these colocasia leaves is during monsoon though they are available throughout the year. There are varieties of colocasia leaves

The dark brown or purple stem colocasia leaves are called as kappukesu in Kannada. These are widely used and do not give itching sensation to tongue.

There is another edible variety which is called mara kesu or kadu kesu.  The leaves are seen with light red colour on the backside. These are the best edible variety for Pathrode and other dishes.

There is one more variety called halkesu which can be used to make dishes. The stem is completely light green in halkesu.

If you find hand itching or skin irritation while washing, cleaning, or chopping. Then do not worry, wash hands with tamarind water or wipe your hands with lemon juice.

Basic Indian spices for kesuvina pathrode batter

The beauty of this recipe, no fancy spices are used and only basic Indian spices are used to enrich the batter with flavours.

Coriander seeds split black gram, split bengal gram, fenugreek seeds with red chilies are used along with curry leaves.

Red chilies are used to spice the batter. Byadgi red chilies are used in most of the recipe. This gives nice colour and taste to Pathrode. If you want more spice then guntur red chilies can be used or red chili powder can also be used.

How to prepare thick batter for kesuvina Pathrode

Dosa rice or raw rice is used to prepared Pathrode. Soaking the rice is important. This helps in grinding the batter properly.

In our family we grind the batter little coarsely. If you prefer to do into fine paste, then you can do the same.

The consistency should be idli batter type. Do not add too much water while grinding. If the batter is thin then the batter donot coat to the leaves.

The batter should not be too thick in consistency as well. Pathrode doesn’t taste good if the steamed rolls are only filled with thick batter.

After jaggery, salt and tamarind paste are added to the batter, rest it for 15 minutes. This helps the batter to develop flavours.

Should the pathrode batter be fermented?

Pathrode batter is used without fermentation. After the batter is ground, immediately it can be applied on the leaves and steamed cooked.

How to serve kesuvina pathrode?

After the rolls are steamed, they can be served in different ways or as it is.

Serving as salad: slice the rolls, sprinkle grated coconut and serve hot.

Serve the hot slices with lots of coconut oil on top 

You can serve this dish with any chutney of choice, however, it tastes best with a dollop of butter or sprinkles of coconut oil.

Deep fried version – Slice the pathrode rolls, dip them in fine semolina and deep fry these to get crispy cutlets.

Stir fried pathrode – Finely chopped rolls are seasoned with mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal and curry leaves.

This recipe will become guests favorite when prepared in any functions. So go ahead make this delicious healthy dish.

How to temper Pathrode

Tempering of Pathrode is purely personal choice. In our family we add mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, red chilies and curry leaves with coconut oil.

Tempering with coconut oil enhances the flavours of Pathrode. Few families use only coconut oil and mustard seeds to temper.

Important tips to get perfect kesuvina pathrode

Here are important tips to be followed while preparing pathrode.

Thick tamarind paste should be used in the batter to prevent itching of Pathrode after steaming.

Add generous amount of tamarind and jaggery to batter. You might feel I have added more jaggery or tamarind in the video, but this is just perfect to get a non-itching delicious Pathrode

Fry all the spices for batter separately to avoid burning.

Partially cooked Pathrode induces itching of tongue and throat. Therefore, it should be completely cooked.

Red chillies and jaggery should be added as per taste. Always taste the batter before applying the batter on leaves. The taste should equally sweet tangy and spicy.  

Select tender green leaves instead of mature old yellow leaves. Thick leaves require more time to steam compared to thin leaves.

Do not roll too many leaves, they tend to break open while cooking.

If the veins are too thick, deveining is important step.

Regional variations of preparing pathrode

It is a dish, which you can tailor it by adding more or less of tamarind, jaggery and red chillies.

However, do not compromise with the spices mentioned under batter masala. The most significant difference is the use of extra spices to the batter. This gives nice aroma to pathrode. 

There are many ways of preparing Pathrode or alu vadi or patra. Every region in India prepares batter in different ways. Few families prepare it with raw spices without dry roasting.

Alu vadi and patra is prepared using gram flour and few spice powders. Steaming method remains the same in all cases.

In coastal Karnataka, certain community use the leftover Pathrode to make coconut based gasi.  

How to store kesuvina pathrode?

Steamed Pathrode can be stored at room temperature for 2 days. They remain fresh, can be reheated and served hot. Do not refrigerate the leftover Pathrode, as they become hard and lose their taste.

Can we store the batter?

Yes! Luckly leftover batter can be refrigerated. It stays good for a day or two. This can be used to prepare dosa sprinkled with some onion. They taste delicious.

How to make pathrode

Pathrode can be prepared in different stages:

Use a large kitchen working space to clean the leaves and to spread the batter. And do not worry if your hands and counter get’s messy.

Preparing the colocasia leaves or kesuvina yele

The first important step is to select leaves which are tender medium sized and not too mature. Gently wash the leaves under running water to remove any worms or dust from the surface. Carefully pat dry the leaves with a kitchen towel.

More mature the leaves, prominent are the veins on the back of the leaves.

Next is deveining the leaves, place the Pathrode leaves upside down with the veins facing towards you. Carefully remove only the thick veins light with gentle care not to tare the leaves. The other method is by simply press the thick veins using a pestle.

This way of removing the center vein prevents the leaves from likely to break while rolling with the batter.

To make the preparation easy, sort the cleaned leaves as per size. If the leaves are small, you can roll more leaves with the batter. If they are big enough, take few leaves to roll with batter.

The other option is mixing one big and one small leaves alternatively in a single roll.

Do not use dried or decoloured yellow leaves. These tend to have more itchiness compared to green leaves. However, my mother-in-law uses decoloured leaves as well and controls the itchiness by adding more tamarind paste to the batter.

A tip to beginner, you can roughly divide the Pathrode batter so that you can evenly spread them on the leaves.

Now the leaves are ready, lets prepare the Pathrode batter

Pathrode batter:

The first step in preparing the batter before frying the masala.

Clean wash the rice for soaking. Soak in water for 3 hours. Drain water before grinding into batter.

Heat coconut oil, add coriander seeds and fry well until they lightly change colour. Keep this aside. Do not over fry coriander seeds.

To the same frying pan, add chana dal, urad dal one after the other and fry them. Keep these aside.

Next fry methi seeds on low heat until they become golden. Do not burn methi seeds as become bitter if over fried.

Next roast red chilies as per taste until they become crisp. Keep this aside for cooling.

Let’s grind all the above fried spices with soaked drained rice. Add fresh grated coconut to a high-speed mixer jar along with fried spices, rice. Grind in batches to slightly coarse batter.

At this stage we will add salt, thick tamarind paste and jaggery powder as per taste. Taste the batter for proper spiciness, sweetness, and tanginess, adjust if required.

Mix the batter properly so that everything mixes well. Allow the batter to sit for 15 minutes, so that the flavours blend well.

Lets see how to apply the batter on the leaves.

Preparing the Pathrode:

We have washed and deveined the leaves. On a clean flat large surface area, place big leaf upside down with the pointed end facing away from you.

Apply the ready Pathrode batter uniformly on the back of the leaf. Do not apply excess batter, just enough to coat the surface. If you apply more batter, it spills out while steaming.

Now place one more slightly smaller leaf upside down on the first leaf, apply batter evenly to cover the entire surface of second leaf.

You can make a roll of 3 or 4 if the leaves are big and if they are small, may be 8 to 10 leaves. Do not add too many leaves as it becomes difficult to roll and they tend to open. 

Continue this process until all the leaves are used up (if you wish to use them the next day, refrigerate the leaves and batter).

Next fold the sides of the leaves along the length, apply a layer of batter.  

Now roll along its breadth, apply a thin layer of batter on top. The Pathrode rolls are ready to be steamed.

Steaming the Pathrode:

Next we must steam the Pathrode rolls. For steaming, we have to pre-heat the steamer. Add water in a steamer and heat as per manufacturer’s instructions. When water comes to rolling boil, place the prepared rolls on the plate or a wet cloth. Close and steam for 25 to 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, check if the Pathrode rolls are well cooked. Reduce the heat, remove the steamer lid, the colour of the rolls would have changed from light green to sap dark green.

Now turn Pathrode rolls upside and check if they are still light green. This indicates that they are still not cooked. Continue to steam for few more minutes, may be another 10 minutes or until the knife inserted comes out clean.

The cooking time depends on the thickness of the roll. If pathrode roll is big with more leaves, it takes more time to cook and vice versa.

If you try to remove hot rolls and slice them, they tend to break. Allow the rolls to cool slightly in steamer or outside.

I have given details of the most common way of serving Pathrode in this part of coastal Karnataka.

The first method is, slice the rolls into thin or thick pieces as per preference. Heat a iron tawa, place these slice and sprinkle coconut oil on top. Roast them until they are crisp or lightly charred. Serve this hot, tastes heavenly.

How to make Pathrode tempering:

Finely chop the steamed Pathrode. Keep this aside for tempering.

In this method, heat coconut oil, saute mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal. Fry until are golden. Also add red chilies and curry leaves. Add finally chopped Pathrode rolls (as shown in the video).

At this stage, if you feel to adjust salt, then add to the mixture.

Serve this tempered Pathrode as snack or breakfast and enjoy with a cup of coffee.

Traditional dish of Karnataka, pin it to your favorite board